Quinoa Loaf Is In Your Future!

Today I experimented and made a couple of quinoa rissoles. However, I have to come up with a recipe for a quinoa loaf that could be cut into slices and served a bit like a salmon or chicken loaf, but for vegetarians.

For about a cup of cooked quinoa I used one egg. It was fairly plain, I added only Chinese five spice powder and celery, but it was nice. I was thinking quinoa, carrots, celery, onion, spices, cilantro, but to fill a loaf tin, I am unsure of quantities and whether it would really stick together.

If this is impossible, I would make it like a savory rice pudding style of dish and people could serve themselves with a spoon.

Thank you in advance for any help you can give me. – PT

Savvy Vegetarian Advice:

Hi PT, The stars tell me that quinoa loaf is in your future! Actually, I googled quinoa loaf, and looked at half a dozen recipes. This one was typical – it’ll give you an idea for the proportions.

All the quinoa loaf recipes included sticky things like wheat flour, pinto beans (best mashed up I think), tahini to make it hang together. Rice flour plus corn starch or potato starch, tomato paste or ketchup would work for a gluten free version. You could also use cashew or almond butter which are quite sticky.

Eggs work well for binding, but are problematic for vegans. None of the recipes I saw called for eggs, so I think you could do without them if you wanted to do a vegan quinoa loaf.

Some of the quinoa loaf recipes called for frying finely chopped veggies in oil before adding, which I think is a good idea, because it reduces the moisture, pre-cooks them a bit, and adds flavor. The oil also increases the stickiness factor.

Veggie choices included celery, carrot, fennel, peppers, kale, eggplant, mushrooms, onions. Minced garlic and/or ginger would be good. Parsley or cilantro too, but don’t fry them – just mix them in at the end.

Spices included marjoram, cinnamon, cardamom. I don’t know about cardamom though. It’s a distinct taste which is used mainly in desserts such as rice pudding, and might be out of place in quinoa loaf.

Your Chinese 5 spice powder sounds good. I might include some paprika, cumin, coriander, soy sauce or braggs. Thyme, rosemary or sage would give your quinoa loaf more of a stuffing flavor. Basil and a pinch of oregano would make it more mediterranean.

One quinoa loaf recipe called for serving with a mushroom gravy – some kind of sauce or gravy seems like a good idea. Maybe spaghetti sauce, or Savvy Veg’s cashew gravy: or low fat chickpea gravy.

Let me know what you come up with for quinoa loaf. I’ll try it too, next week, once I’m back from the wilds of Missouri.

Judith Kingsbury, Savvy Vegetarian

PT Replies:

We have Macadamia nut butter and also cashew, brazil and almond (together) butter which would be great to hold the quinoa loaf together. I can use potato flour for a binding agent and your other suggestions sound terrific.

I felt that a type of cold eggplant sauce, a bit like a guacamole would be nice as a topping, and serve the quinoa loaf at room temperature rather than cold. Or I could make a tomato salsa with lots of spring onions, tomatoes, basil, fresh oregano, lime juice, and cayenne pepper or horseradish for some heat.

JK: You meanbaba ganoush? That or fresh salsa sounds like a wonderful sauce for quinoa loaf, especially if you serve at room temp.